WHEREAS clause(2) of
Article 11 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan prohibits
all forms of forced labour;

AND WHEREAS it is necessary
to provide for abolition of bonded labour system with a view to preventing the
economic and physical exploitation of the labour class in the country and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;

It is hereby enacted as
follows:---

1. Short title, extent
and commencement.___(1)
This Act may be called the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992.

(2) It extends to the whole
of Pakistan.

(3) It shall come into
force at once.

2. Definitions. In this Act, unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context,---

(a) “advance (peshgi)” means an advance (peshgi), whether in
cash or in kind, or partly in cash or partly in kind, made by one person
(hereinafter referred to as the credi­tor) to another person (hereinafter
referred to as the debtor);

(b) “bonded debt” means an advance (peshgi) obtained, or
presumed to have been obtained, by a bonded labourer under, or in pursuance of,
the bounded labour system;

(c) “bonded labour” means any labour or
service rendered under the bonded labour system;

(d) “bonded labourer” means a labour who incurs, or has, or is
presumed to have, incurred, a bonded debt;

(e) “bonded labour system” means the system of forced, or partly
forced, labour under which a debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to have,
entered into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that,---

(i) in consideration of advance (peshgi) obtained by him or by
any of the members of his family [whether or not such advance (peshgi) is
evidence by any document] and in consideration of the interest, if any, due on
such advance (peshgi), or

(ii) in pursuance of any customary or social
obligation, or

(iii) for any economic consideration received by him or by
any of the members of his family;

he would,---

(1) render, by himself or
through any member of his family, or any person dependent on him, labour or
service to the creditor, or for the benefit of the creditor, for a specified
period or for an unspeci­fied period, either without wages or for nominal
wages, or

(2) forfeit the freedom of
employment or adopting other means of livelihood for a specified period or for
an unspecified period, or

(3) forfeit the right to
move freely from place to place, or

(4) forfeit the right to
appropriate or sell at market value any of his properly or product of his
labour or the labour of a member of his family or any person dependent on him,

and includes the system of
forced, or partly forced, labour under which a surety for a debtor enters, or
has or is presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the
effect that, in the event of the failure of the debtor to repay the debt, he
would render the bonded labour on behalf of the debtor;

(f) “family” means,---

(i) in the case of a male bonded labourer, the
wife or wives, and in the case of a female bonded labourer, the husband of the
bonded labourer; and

(ii) the parents, children, minor brother, and unmar­ried,
divorced or widowed sisters of the bonded labourer wholly dependent on him;

(g) "nominal wages’, in relation to any labour, means a
wage which is less than,---

(a) the minimum wages fixed by the Government, in relation to
the same or similar labour, under any law for the time being in force; and

(b) where no such minimum wage has been fixed
in relation to any form of labour, the wages that are normally paid, for the
same or similar labour, to the labourers working in the same locality; and

(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules
made under this Act.

3. Act to over-ride
other laws, etc. The
provisions of this Act shall have effect notwith­standing anything contained in
any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by
virtue of any such law.

4.Abolition of bonded labour
system.— (1) On the commencement of this Act, the bonded labour system
shall stand abolished and every bonded labourer shall stand freed and
discharged from any obligation to render any bonded labour.

(2) No person shall make
any advance under, or in pur­suance, of, the bonded labour system or compel any
person to render any bonded labour or other form of forced labour.

5.Agreement, custom, etc., to be
void. Any custom or tradition or practice or any contract, agreement
or other instrument, whether entered into or executed before or after the
commencement of this Act, by virtue of which any person, or any member of his
family, is required to do any work or render any service as a bonded labourer,
shall be void and inoperative.

6. Liability to repay
bonded debt to stand extinguished. — (1) On the commencement of this Act, every obligation of a
bonded labourer to repay any bonded debt, or such part of any bonded debt as
remains unsatisfied immediately before such commencement, shall stand
extinguised.

(2) After the commencement
of this Act, no suit or other proceeding shall lie in any civil court, tribunal
or before any other authority for the recovery of any bonded debt or any part
thereof.

(3) Every decree or order
for the recovery of bonded debt, passed before the commencement of this Act and
not fully satisfied before such commencement, shall be deemed, on such commence­ment,
to have been fully satisfied.

(4) Where, before the
commencement of this Act, posses­sion of any property belonging to a bonded
labourer or a member of his family was forcibly taken by any creditor for the
recovery of any bonded debt, such property shall be restored, within ninety
days of such commencement, to the possession of the person from whom it was
sized.

(5) Every attachment made
before the commencement of this Act for the recovery of any bonded debt shall,
on such com­mencement, stand vacated; and, where, in pursuance of such attach­ment,
any movable property of the bonded labourer was seized and removed from his
custody and kept in the custody of any court, tribunal or other authority
pending sale thereof, such movable property shall be restored, within ninety
days of such commencement, to the possession of the bonded labourer:---

Provided that, where any
attached property was sold before the commencement of this Act, in execution of
a decree or order for the recovery of a bonded debt such sale shall not be
affected by any vision of this Act.

(6) Subject to the proviso
to sub-section (5), any sale, trans­fer or assignment of any property of a
bonded labourer made in any manner whatsoever before the commencement of this
Act for recov­ery of bonded debt shall not be deemed to have created or
transferred any right, or interest in or encumbrance upon any such property and
such property shall be restored, within ninety days of such com­mencement, to
the possession of the bonded labourer.

(7) If restoration of the
possession of any property referred to in sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or
sub-section (6) is not made within ninety days from the commencement of this
Act, the aggriev­ed person may, within such time as may be prescribed, apply to
the prescribed authority for the restoration of the possession of such property
and the prescribed authority may, after giving the creditor a reasonable
opportunity of being heard, direct the creditor to retore to the applicant the
possession of the said property within such time as may be specified in the
order.

(8) An order made by any
prescribed authority under sub­section (7) shall be deemed to be an order made
by a civil court and may be executed by the court of the lowest pecuniary
jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the creditor
voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.

(9) Where any suit or
proceeding for the enforcement of any obligation under the bonded labour
system, including a suit or proceeding for the recovery of any advance (peshgi)
made to a bonded labourer, is pending at the commencement of this Act, such
suit or other proceeding shall, on such commencement, stand dismissed.

(10) On the commencement of
this Act, every bonded labourer who has been detained in civil prison, whether
before or after judgement, shall be released from detention forthwith.

7.Property of bonded labour to be
freed from mortgage, etc.—(1) All property vested in a bonded labouer which
was, immediately before the commencement of this Act, under any mort­gage,
charge, lien or other encumbrance in connection with any bonded debt shall, in
so far as it is relatable to the bonded debt, stand freed and discharged from
such mortgage, charge, lien or other encumbrance; and where any such property
was immediately before the commencement of this Act, in the possession of the
mortgagee or the holder of the charge, lien or encumbrance, such property shall,
except where it was subject to any other charge, on such commence­ment, be
restored to the possession of the bonded labourer.

(2) If any delay is made in
restoring any property referred to in sub-section (1) to the possession of the
bonded labourer, such labourer shall be entitled, on and from the date of such
commence­ment, to recover from the mortgagee or holder of the lien, charge or
encumbrance, such mesne profits as may be determined by the civil court of the
lowest pecuniary jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction
such property is situated.

8.Creditor not to accept payment
against extinguished debt.—(1) No creditor shall accept any payment against
any bonded debt which has been extinguished or deemed to have been extinguished
or fully satisfied by virtue of the provisions of this Act.

(2) Whoever contravenes the
provisions of sub-section (1), shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years, or with fine which shall not be less than
fifteen thou­sand rupees, or with both.

(3) The court convicting
any person under sub-section (2) may, in addition to the penalties which may be
imposed under that sub-section, direct such person to deposit, in court, the
amount accepted in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1), within
such period as may be specified in the order, for being refund­ed to the bonded
labourer.

9.Authorities who may be specified
for implementing the provisions of this Act. The Provincial Government
may confer such powers and impose such duties on a District Magistrate as may
be necessary to ensure that the provisions of this Act are properly carried out
and the
District Magistrate may designate an officer subordinate to him to exercise all
or any of the powers, and perform all or any of the duties, so conferred or
imposed and specify the local limits within which such powers or duties shall
be carried out by such officer.

10. Duty of District
Magistrate and other officers designated by him. —(1) The District Magistrate authorised by
the Provincial Government under section 9, and the officer designated by the
District Magistrate under that section, shall, as far as practicable, try to
promote the welfare of the freed bonded labourer by securing and protecting the
economic interests of such bonded labourer so that he may not have any occasion
or reason to contract any further bonded debt.

(2) It shall be the duty of
every District Magistrate and every officer designated by him under section 9
to inquire whether, after the commencement of this Act, any bonded labour
system or any other form of forced labour is being enforced by, or on behalf
of, any person resident within the local limits of his jurisdiction and if, as
a result of such inquiry, any person is found to be enforcing the bonded labour
system or any other system of forced labour, he shall forthwith take such
action as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Act.

11. Punishment for
enforcement of bonded labour. Whoever, after the commencement of this Act compels any person to
render any bonded labour shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
shall not be less than two years nor more than five years, or with fine which
shall not be less than fifty-thousand rupees, or with both.

12. Punishment for extracting bonded
labour under the bonded labour system. Whoever enforces, after the
commencement of this Act any custom, tradition, practice, contract, agreement
or other instru­ment, by virtue of which any person or any member of his family
is required to render any service under the bonded labour system, shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years
nor more than five years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty
thousand rupees, or with both; and out of the fine, if recovered, payment shall
be made to the bonded labourer at the rate of not less than fifty rupees for
each day for which bonded labour was extracted from him.

13. Punishment for
omission or failure to restore possession of property to, bonded labourer. Whoever, being required by this Act
to restore any property to the possession of any bonded labour, omits or fails
to do so, within a period of ninety days from the commencement of this Act
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year,
or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both; and out of
the fine, if recovered, payment shall be made to the bonded labourer at the
rate of ten rupees for each day during which possession of the property was not
restored to him.

14. Abetment to be an
offence. Whoever
abets any offence punishable under this Act shall, whether or not the offence
abetted is committed, be punishable with the same punishment as is provided for
the offence which has been abetted.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this section,
“abetment” has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Pakistan Penal Code
(Act XLV of 1860).

15. Vigilance
Committees.—(1) Vigilance
Committees shall be set up at the District level in the prescribed manner,
consisting, of elected representatives of the area, representatives of the
District Administration, Bar asso­ciations, Press, recognized Social Services
and Labour Departments of the Federal and Provincial Governments.

(2) The following shall be
the functions of the Vigilance Committees, namely:---

(a) to advise the District Administration on
matters relating to the effective implementation of the law and to ensure its
implementation in a proper manner;

(b) to help in the rehabilition of the freed bonded labourer;

(c) to keep an eye on the working of the law; and

(d) to provide the bonded labourers such assistance as may be
necessary to achieve the objectives of the law.

16. Offences to be tried
by the Magistrate. —(1)
A Magistrate of the first class empowered in this behalf by the Provincial
Government may try any offence under this Act.

(2) An offence under this
act may be tried summarily.

17. Cognizance of
offences. Every
offence under this act shall be cognizable and bailable.

18. Offences by
companies. — (1)
Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person
who, at the time the offence was com­mitted, was in charge of, and was
responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as
well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Act, has
been committed by a compa­ny and it is proved that the offence has been
committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect
on the part of any director, manager or other officer of the company, such
director, manager or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence
and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,---

(a) “company” means any body corporate, and includes a firm or
other association of individuals; and

(b) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the
firm.

19. Protection of action
taken in good faith. No
suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against Government or any
officer of the Government for anything which is in good faith done or intended
to be done under this Act.

20.Jurisdiction of courts barred. Save
as otherwise provided in this Act no court shall have jurisdiction in respect
of any matter to which any provision of this Act applies and no injunction
shall be granted by any court in respect of anything which is done or intended
to be done under this Act.

21. Power to make rules. The Federal Government may, by
notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes
of this Act.